Continuous casting apparatus having a roller arrangement for diminishing the restraining force against shrinkage of the cast metal

ABSTRACT

A continuous casting apparatus having means, in order to reduce a force created between the surfaces of a cast metal and each of guide rolls and acting in the direction to restrain a tendency of shrinking of the cast metal after it is discharged from a casting mould, for applying a force on the surface of the cast metal in the direction normal to the direction of travel of the cast metal and in the same direction as that in which the metal shrinks, whereby longitudinal splits can effectively be prevented.

United States Patent l l I 1 1 I 1 Inventor Kinju Machida Hitachi-shi,Japan Appl. No. 783,625 Filed Dec. 13, 1968 Patented June 22, 1971Assignee Hitachi, Ltd.

TokyoJapan Priority Dec.22. 1962, Dec. 22, 1962, Dec. 22,

1962 Japan 42/81875. 42/81878 and 42/8187) CONTINUOUS CASTING APPARATUSHAVING A ROLLER ARRANGEMENT FOR DIMINISHING THE RESTRAINING FORCEAGAINST SHRINKAGE OF THE CAST METAL 13 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 164/282,

Int. Cl ..i 322d 11/12 Field of Search 164/82, 89,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,095,445 5/1914 Alvey193/37 2,602,537 7/1952 Talbot 198/127 2,895,190 7/1959 Bungeroth et a1.164/282 3,268,956 8/1966 Lemper 164/282 3,433,289 3/1969 Schrewe 164/282Primary Examiner l. Spencer Overholser Assistant ExaminerR. SpencerAnnear Attorney-Craig & Antonelli can effectively be prevented.

Jill,

PATENTEUJUHZPIHYI 3,586,094

sum 1 0F 4 I N VE NTOR KIA/w NRC 1019 ATTORNEY5 PATENTEH JUN22 19m SHEET3 BF 4 wi i F1, .0 I? u WW 1 Q Q fi Q w 7 Q My FIG. 8

INVENTOR NJU lWkW/M ATTORNEYS BY 6- j CONTINUOUS CASTING APPARATUSHAVING A ROLLER ARRANGEMENT FOR DIMINISHING THE RESTRAINING FORCEAGAINST SHRINKAGE OF THE CAST METAL The present invention relates to acontinuous casting apparatus for a metal, and more particularly to ameans for guiding a cast metal continuously drawn from a water-cooledcasting mould to a secondary cooling zone.

It is well known that, in a continuous metal casting apparatus, a castmetal which has just been discharged from a water-cooled casting mouldstill has an unsolidified inner portion and then the cast metal isguided by guide rolls through a secondary cooling zone so that it iscooled by means of a water spray to solidify the inner part thereof. Inthis instance, it has been well recognized that the spacing betweenpairs of the guide rolls and the amount of spray water have asubstantial effect on the quality of the cast metal. Therefore, it hasbeen common practice to make the spacing or pitch of the pairs of guiderolls and the amount of cooling water adjustable. Particularly, it hasalready been well known to those skilled in the art that when a wideslab is being cast, while the guide rolls are subjected to a largeferro-static pressure, the roll pitch is set as small as possible inorder to reduce the ferro-static pressure acting on the rolls and toprevent the cast metal from cracking by suppressing the tendency of thecast metal to become bulged under the influence of ferro-static pressureat the portion located between two adjacent rolls. However, even if sucharrangement is employed, there still exists, when a wide slab is cast,the tendency that a longitudinal split occurs in the cast metal.Particularly, in a case where the width of the cast metal exceeds l,200mm., this tendency increases remarkably and hence the quality of thecast metal is markedly decreased. Therefore, we have tried to solvethese problems not only by varying the roll pitch but also by suitablycontrolling the amount of spray at the cooling zone by an automaticspray controller, however, this arrangement was not satisfactory forcasting an increasingly wider slab.

Recently, it has become necessary to produce increasingly wider slabswhich are as wide as 1,600 mm. or more, however, the most criticalbarrier to the production of such a wide slab is that there is noreliable means for preventing said longitudinal split.

It is of course true that the longitudinal split of a cast metal occurswhen suitable cooling is not performed and/or the roll pitch isexcessively large, but the restraining force applied on the cast metalby the guide rolls is also considered to be one of the major causes ofthe longitudinal split. Namely, as the cast metal is cooled andprogressively solidified, its surface temperature decreases and at thesame time the cast metal shrinks, however, at the outer surface of themetal where the amount of shrinkage is greatest, there occurs a forcetending to prevent the shrinking of the metal so that an internaltensile stress is created in the metal. If the stress exceeds theultimate tensile strength of the solidified metal layer, longitudinalsplits will occur in the metal.

The force which may tend to prevent the shrinking of the metal surfaceis the gross summary of a tensile force created due to the influence ofthe ferro-static pressure of the metal, restraining force due to thetemperature difference between the inner and outer faces of thesolidified layer and the restraining force applied by the guide rolls.Among these forces, those which have the greatest effect on a wide slabare the tensile force created at the longitudinal sides of the cast slaband the restraining force applied by the guide rolls. The tensile stresscaused by these forces is found to increase in relation with an increasein the width of the slab. Although the tensile force at the longitudinalsides of the slab can be suppressed by decreasing the roll pitch, therestraining force applied by the guide rolls cannot be suppressed unlessthe coefficient of friction between the cast metal and the rolls couldbe reduced.

A conventional continuous casting apparatus of this type has, asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,284,503, guide rolls with rotational axesdisposed normal to the direction of movement of the cast metal. Thearrangement is seen in a continuous casting apparatus of the verticaltype, curved type or any other type of apparatus. However, in such aknown arrangement, since there exists a sliding contact between the castmetal and each of the guide rolls resulting in a large frictionalcoefficient and since each of the guide rolls engages the cast metal ata limited area extending transversely the direction of travel of thelatter, the above-mentioned restraining force has a strong effect on thecast metal and promotes the occurrence of said longitudinal split. Inthe actual practice of manufacturing wide slabs, longitudinal splitsoccur with the result that the quality of the product is remarkablylowered. For this reason, it has been very difficult in the priorapparatus, to manufacture wide slabs over a certain width.

The present invention successfully provides, through investigating thecauses of the longitudinal splits in a cast metal,

a means which is very effective for preventing such longitudinal splits.

Thus, a principal object of the present invention is to provide acontinuous casting apparatus which can prevent the above-describedlongitudinal splits and produce a high quality cast metal.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an arrangementof guide rolls which is very effective for preventing said longitudinalsplits.

A still further object of the present invention is to arrange the guiderolls in a suitable and reasonable manner in relation to cast metals ofvarious shapes.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an arrangementof the guide rolls, which can be speedily established and which canincrease the flexibility of the operation of the apparatus whereby toreduce the standstill thereof in running.

The other objects of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing descriptions of the preferred embodiments with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided acontinuous casting apparatus having means, in order to reduce a force(restraining force applied by a guide roller) created between thesurfaces of a cast metal and each of guide rolls and acting in thedirection to restrain the tendency of shrinking of the cast metal afterit is discharged from a casting mould, for applying a force on thesurface of the cast metal in the direction normal to the direction ofthe travel of the cast metal in such a sense that the restraining forceis reduced.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, as shown anddescribed with respect to the preferred embodiments, there is providedan arrangement of guide rolls in which the rolls are angularly andadjustably mounted wherein sets of rolls disposed at the upstreamportion with respect to the direction of travel of a cast metal arearranged in a different manner as compared with those at the down streamportion.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view showing a vertical type continuouscasting apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of a curved path type continuouscasting apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a cast metal guide means of a conventionaltype and particularly shows the arrangement of guide rolls;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the means shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5 to 8 are front elevational views of various embodiments of castmetal guide means made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a front elevational view of a further embodiment of cast metalguide means in accordance with the present invention, in which meansguide rolls are angularly adjustably mounted;

FIG. 10 is a partly sectional view of angle adjusting means for a guiderolls; and

FIG. II is a front elevational view of a further embodiment of the castmetal guide means in accordance with the present invention in whichguide rolls at upstream portion are disposed in a different way ascompared with downstream portion guide rolls First of all. a verticaltype and a cuned path type continu ous casting apparatus which are thetypical examples of conventional continuous casting apparatus will nowbe described with reference to FIGS. l and 2 Molten metal iscontinuously poured from a tundish 1 into a water-cooled casting mould 2at a predetermined rate The molten metal is partially solidified in thewater-cooled casting mould 2 to form a thin solidified metal layer andis held and guided by means of guide rolls 5 provided in a secondarycooling zone during its subsequent travel along a path arranged in avertical or in a curved way. During the travel the cast metal 3 iscooled and completely solidified toward the center portion thereof bymeans of cooling water spray discharged from nozzles 6, and thereaftercontinuously drawn by a pinch roll means or a straightener 4.

FIGS. 3 and 4l show cast metal guide means, particularly the arrangementof guide rolls employed in a conventional apparatus such as the onedisclosed in the aforementioned United States patent. As is obvious fromthe drawings, each of the guide rolls 5 is disposed normal to thedirection of travel of the cast metal 3. In the drawings, there is showna structure in which only a few guide rolls are carried on a pair ofsupport columns 7, however, it would be apparent that a plurality ofsuch roll groups can be arranged in series. In this arrangement, theguide rolls 5 are subjected to a ferro-static pressure of molten metaland the cast metal has a tendency of bulging at portions between pairsof the guide rolls as shown in FIG. 4. In this condition, since theguide rolls 5 are rotationally driven and are engaged with the castmetal, a force F is created in the direction of the advance of themetal. Further, as the cast metal is cooled during its downwardmovement, its surface shrinks so that a frictional force F, is createdbetween the surfaces of the cast metal and each of the rolls in thedirection normal to the direction of travel of the cast metal.Therefore, equivalent reaction forces act on the cast metal in thedirection opposite to the forces F and F The aforementioned reactionforce opposite to the force F, is the cause of the longitudinal splits.

FIGS. 5 to 8 show various embodiments of the present invention in whicheach guide roll is so arranged that is serves to reduce the restrainingforce created between the surfaces of the cast metal and the guide rollsand acting against shrinking of the cast metal. In FIG. 5, guide rollsare arranged in two rows in side-by-side relation. Each of the guiderolls 8 and 8 is disposed with its axis inclined toward the outer anddownward direction by an acute angle with respect to the direction ofthe travel of the cast metal. In other words, each roll is arranged sothat its inner end located at the center part of the cast metal isdisposed behind the outer end located at the side edge portion of thecast metal with respect to the direction of travel. Further, twoadjacent guide rolls 8 and 8 are disposed in a symmetrical relationshipabout the centerline of the cast metal and are supported by threesupport columns 11 by means of bearings 9 and 10. Said angle 0 shouldpreferably be selected to satisfy the relation 0 a, where a is the anglebetween the transverse shrinking speed V, and the resultant speed V, ofthe descending speed V of the cast metal and the speed V,, however, itmay be practical to select it within the range 90 0 a.

FIG. shows an arrangement comprising central short guide rolls 12disposed normal to the direction of the travel of the cast metal andlong guide rolls 13 disposed at the opposite sides of the short rolls,said rolls 13 being inclined so as to form an acute angle with respectto the direction of travel of the cast metal as in the case of theaforementioned example. In this instance, the rolls are carried by foursupport columns 16 by means of bearings 14 and 15.

FIG. 7 shows a further improved arrangement of guide rolls in which eachof the rolls is supported with an inclined relation as in the precedingexamples, and at the same time, the rolls in the adjacent rows aredisposed in staggered relation with each other In this arrangement. twoadjacent rolls I7 and 17 can be placed in slightly overlapped relationwith each other at or adjacent to the center portion of the slab, sothat the guide rolls can engage with the cast metal 3 without leavingany unengaged portion Thus, the arrangement is effective to suitablyconvey the cast metal and obtain high quality products. In thisinstance, the guide rolls I7 and 17 are supported by three supportcolumns 19 by means of bearings 18.

FIG. 8 shows an arrangement in which a plurality of short rolls 20 isarranged in the transverse direction of the cast metal 3, each of therolls 20 being inclined with respect to the direction of the movement ofthe cast metal 3. Each guide roll 20 is mounted on a frame 23 secured toa pair of support columns 22, a plurality of identical roll groups canbe arranged in the direction of the travel of the cast metal. Accordingto this arrangement, the angle ofinclination 0,, 0 and 0 of the guiderolls 20 can be selected as desired so that they may become suitable tooperational conditions.

FIG. 9 shows a structure similar to that shown in FIG 8 but theinclination angle of each of the short guide rolls 30 is independentlyadjustable. As shown in FIG. 10, each of the short guide rolls 30 ispivotably supported on a bearing 31 by means of a pin 32, the bearing 31being in turn supported by a frame 36 secured to support columns 37. Thebearing 31 has a downwardly directed shaft portion 33 provided at itslower end, the shaft portion 33 being provided around its periphery withgear teeth 34 to which a rack 36 engages. By externally actuating therack 35, the angle of inclination of the guide roll 30 with respect tothe direction of the travel of the cast metal 3 can be adjusted asdesired. In the example illustrated in the drawing, the guide rollswhich are aligned in the direction of the travel of the cast metal aresimultaneously adjusted, however, it will be apparent to those skilledin the art that the guide rolls disposed in side-by-side relation canalso be simultaneously adjusted.

According to the above described arrangement, the angles of inclination0,, 0 and 0 can be adjusted as desired with respect to the dimensions ofthe castings and/or the location of each of the rolls, so that the mostsuitable adjustment of the guide rolls can readily be ensured with theresult that flexibility of operation of the apparatus can be obtainedand that products of improved quality can be obtained. Further, thearrangement is effective to reduce the standstill of the apparatus. FIG.II shows an arrangement in which the angle between the rotational axisof the guide roll and the direction of the travel of the cast metal isvaried in accordance with the vertical position of the roll. The guiderolls are disposed in two rolls arranged in side-by-side relation. Inthe upper group I, each of the guide rolls 4t) and 40' is disposed withits rotational axis inclined at an acute angle 0, with respect to thedirection of the movement of the cast metal 3. In other words, the rollis so disposed that the inner end thereof located at the center part ofthe cast metal is higher in the vertical position than the outer endthereof disposed at the side edge portion of the cast metal. Further,each pair of adjacent guide rolls All) and 40 is symmetrical withanother about the longitudinal center line of the cast metal. The guiderolls 40 and 40' are supported by three support columns 43 by means ofbearings 41 and 42. The angle 0 is determined as explained in connectionwith FIG. 5. In the intermediate group 11, each of the guide rolls 44and 441' is inclined at an acute angle 0 which is larger than the angle0,. The angle 0 is not a right angle but is closer to a right angle thanthe angle 0 with respect to the direction of the travel of the castmetal 3 (0 0,). The other arrangements and structures are the same asthose in the preceding group I. In the lower group III, each of theguide rolls 45 and 45' is disposed with its rotational axis forming aright angle 0 with the direction of the cast metal 3 as in theconventional apparatus. The other arrangements and structures are thesame as those in the preceding groups I and II.

According to the above-described arrangement, the inclination of each ofthe guide rolls is different in accordance with the restraining forcethereof whether it is located at the upper part of the apparatus wherethe restraining force of the guide roll is large, or the lower part ofthe apparatus where the restraining force of the guide roll is small.Therefore, by this arrangement, a suitable and reasonable operation ofthe apparatus can be obtained and the quality of the products can beremarkably improved.

According to the present invention, in either one of the above-describedembodiments, a transverse compression force can be applied on thesurface of the cast metal simultaneously with its advance, so that thetransverse restraining force against shrinking of the metal can bereduced or eliminated. Therefore, the present invention is effective toprevent longitudinal splits in the cast metal and thus the quality ofthe products can be substantially improved. Further, the presentinvention greatly contributes to the development of the continuouscasting of wide slabs.

lt is apparent that the present invention should not be limited to thearrangements as described in connection with the illustrated embodiment,but can be interpreted or modified in various ways within the scope ofthe appended claims.

lclaim:

1. In a continuous apparatus including a storage for molten metal, acasting mould having a cooling means for said molten metal to bedischarged from said casting mould, a second cooling means for said castmetal and a guide means for guiding said cast metal emerged from saidcasting mould; wherein the improvement is characterized by the fact thatsaid guide means comprise a transverse plurality of guide rolls, each ofsaid plurality of guide rolls being inclined with respect to thedirection transverse to the direction of travel of said cast metal andeach of said guide rolls is arranged so as to compress said cast metaltowards the direction of the center line thereof, and reduce a forcerestraining against the shrinkage which occurs in said cast metal, beingprogressively cooled by said cooling means, so as to prevent theoccurrence of a longitudinal split in said cast metal.

2. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid guide rolls are arranged in a plurality of groups disposed inside-by-side relationship, each of said guide rolls being inclinedforming an acute angle with respect to the direction of travel of thecast metal with each of the inner ends thereof disposed behind the outerends with respect to the direction of travel, whereby the restrainingforce against shrinking of the cast metal between the surface of saidguide rolls and said cast metal is diminished.

3. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid guide rolls for guiding the cast metal are disposed in two rowsarranged in side-by-side relation, each of said guide rolls beinginclined at an acute angle with respect to the direction of the travelof the cast metal with each of the inner ends thereofdisposed behind theouter ends with respect to the direction of the travel, each of twotransversely adjacent rolls being disposed in a symmetrical relationwith each other about the longitudinal centerline of the cast metalwhereby the restraining force against shrinkage of the cast metalbetween the surface of said guide rolls and the cast metal isdiminished.

4. A continuous coasting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid guide rolls comprise short guide rolls disposed at the central zonealong the longitudinal axis of the cast metal in the direction normal tothe direction of the travel of the cast metal, and long guide rollsdisposed at each outsaid rolls being inclined forming an acute anglewith respect to the direction of the travel of the cast metal with itsinner end disposed behind the outer end with respect to its direction oftravel, and the guide rolls in two adjacent rows being disposed in astaggered relation with each other.

6. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid guide rolls for guiding a cast metal are arranged in a plurality ofrows disposed in side-by-side relation, each of said rolls beinginclined forming an acute angle with its inner end disposed behind theouter end with respect to the direction of the travel of the cast metal,said guide rolls in two adjacent rows being disposed in a staggeredrelation with each other and their inside ends opposing each other atthe central zone of the travel line.

7. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, whereineach of said guide rolls is so mounted that the angle between thedirection of the travel of the cast metal and the axis of the roll canbe adjusted as desired.

8. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid guide rolls comprise a plurality of short rolls which constitute aplurality of rows in both the longitudinal and transverse directionswith respect to the travel line of the cast metal, said short rollsbeing mounted so that their inclination angle can be adjusted asdesired.

9. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid guide rolls comprise plurality of short rolls which are arranged ina plurality of rows in both the longitudinal and transverse directionswith respect to the travel line of the cast metal, said short rollsbeing journaled on a frame secured to support columns and being mountedso that their inclination angle can be adjusted as desired.

10. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim I, whereinsaid guide rolls comprise a plurality of short rolls which are arrangedin a plurality of rows in both the longitudinal and transversedirections with respect to the travel line of the cast metal, each ofsaid short rolls is rotatably journaled by bearing means at its bearingpin, said bearing being supported on the frame secured to supportcolumns, said bearing being provided with a downwardly projecting shafthaving gear teeth therearound to which a rack is adapted to engage sothat the inclination angle of said short rolls can be adjusted asdesired.

11. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in whichsaid guide rolls are mounted in such a manner that those disposed at theupstream portion of the travel line of the cast metal have a differentinclination angle from those at the downstream portion thereof so as toeffect a suitable restraining force in accordance with the varyingextent of solidification in the cast metal.

12. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in whichsaid guide rolls are mounted in such a manner that the inclination anglethereof with respect to the travel line increases gradually toward aright angle from that located at the upstream portion of the travel lineto that located at the downstream portion thereof.

13. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid guide rolls are arranged in a plurality of groups in which each ofthe said guide rolls in the same group has the same inclination angle.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 094Dated June 22, 1971 Inventor(s) Kinju Machida It is certified that errorappears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent arehereby corrected as shown below: f

On the first Page, left hand column, line 8, December 22,1962

and line 9 should read December 22, 1967.

Signed and sealed this 11 th day of December 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDJARD M.F'LETGHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Acting Comissioner of PatentsAttesting Officer

1. In a continuous apparatus including a storage for molten metal, acasting mould having a cooling means for said molten metal to bedischarged from said casting mould, a second cooling means for said castmetal and a guide means for guiding said cast metal emerged from saidcasting mould; wherein the improvement is characterized by the fact thatsaid guide means comprise a tranSverse plurality of guide rolls, each ofsaid plurality of guide rolls being inclined with respect to thedirection transverse to the direction of travel of said cast metal andeach of said guide rolls is arranged so as to compress said cast metaltowards the direction of the center line thereof, and reduce a forcerestraining against the shrinkage which occurs in said cast metal, beingprogressively cooled by said cooling means, so as to prevent theoccurrence of a longitudinal split in said cast metal.
 2. A continuouscasting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said guide rollsare arranged in a plurality of groups disposed in side-by-siderelationship, each of said guide rolls being inclined forming an acuteangle with respect to the direction of travel of the cast metal witheach of the inner ends thereof disposed behind the outer ends withrespect to the direction of travel, whereby the restraining forceagainst shrinking of the cast metal between the surface of said guiderolls and said cast metal is diminished.
 3. A continuous castingapparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said guide rolls forguiding the cast metal are disposed in two rows arranged in side-by-siderelation, each of said guide rolls being inclined at an acute angle withrespect to the direction of the travel of the cast metal with each ofthe inner ends thereof disposed behind the outer ends with respect tothe direction of the travel, each of two transversely adjacent rollsbeing disposed in a symmetrical relation with each other about thelongitudinal centerline of the cast metal whereby the restraining forceagainst shrinkage of the cast metal between the surface of said guiderolls and the cast metal is diminished.
 4. A continuous coastingapparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said guide rolls compriseshort guide rolls disposed at the central zone along the longitudinalaxis of the cast metal in the direction normal to the direction of thetravel of the cast metal, and long guide rolls disposed at each outwardside of each of the short roll, each of said long guide rolls beinginclined forming an acute angle with respect to the direction of thetravel of the cast metal.
 5. A continuous casting apparatus inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the guide rolls for guiding a castmetal are arranged in a plurality of rows disposed in side-by-siderelation, each of said rolls being inclined forming an acute angle withrespect to the direction of the travel of the cast metal with its innerend disposed behind the outer end with respect to its direction oftravel, and the guide rolls in two adjacent rows being disposed in astaggered relation with each other.
 6. A continuous casting apparatus inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said guide rolls for guiding a castmetal are arranged in a plurality of rows disposed in side-by-siderelation, each of said rolls being inclined forming an acute angle withits inner end disposed behind the outer end with respect to thedirection of the travel of the cast metal, said guide rolls in twoadjacent rows being disposed in a staggered relation with each other andtheir inside ends opposing each other at the central zone of the travelline.
 7. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance with claim 1,wherein each of said guide rolls is so mounted that the angle betweenthe direction of the travel of the cast metal and the axis of the rollcan be adjusted as desired.
 8. A continuous casting apparatus inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said guide rolls comprise a pluralityof short rolls which constitute a plurality of rows in both thelongitudinal and transverse directions with respect to the travel lineof the cast metal, said short rolls being mounted so that theirinclination angle can be adjusted as desired.
 9. A continuous castingapparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said guide rolls compriseplurality of short rolls which are arranged in a plurality of rows inboth the longitudinal and transverse direCtions with respect to thetravel line of the cast metal, said short rolls being journaled on aframe secured to support columns and being mounted so that theirinclination angle can be adjusted as desired.
 10. A continuous castingapparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said guide rolls comprisea plurality of short rolls which are arranged in a plurality of rows inboth the longitudinal and transverse directions with respect to thetravel line of the cast metal, each of said short rolls is rotatablyjournaled by bearing means at its bearing pin, said bearing beingsupported on the frame secured to support columns, said bearing beingprovided with a downwardly projecting shaft having gear teeththerearound to which a rack is adapted to engage so that the inclinationangle of said short rolls can be adjusted as desired.
 11. A continuouscasting apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which said guide rollsare mounted in such a manner that those disposed at the upstream portionof the travel line of the cast metal have a different inclination anglefrom those at the downstream portion thereof so as to effect a suitablerestraining force in accordance with the varying extent ofsolidification in the cast metal.
 12. A continuous casting apparatus inaccordance with claim 1, in which said guide rolls are mounted in such amanner that the inclination angle thereof with respect to the travelline increases gradually toward a right angle from that located at theupstream portion of the travel line to that located at the downstreamportion thereof.
 13. A continuous casting apparatus in accordance withclaim 1, wherein said guide rolls are arranged in a plurality of groupsin which each of the said guide rolls in the same group has the sameinclination angle.